Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Islamic State’s Newest Car Bomb Campaign In Iraq’s Capital

The Islamic State (IS) just started its latest vehicle borne
improvised explosive device (VBIED) campaign in Iraq starting in July. It is a
mix of tactical attacks upon the government’s forces in places like Anbar and
Salahaddin, and more traditional terrorist bombings of civilians such as in the
capital. An analysis of where these car bombs have gone off reveal an extensive
network of bases throughout Baghdad’s belts, and the groups ability to infiltrate
almost every part of the governorate.

The Islamic State’s newest car bomb offensive began in July
2015. This has included a renewed emphasis upon hitting the capital. In June
there were 15 car bombs, 7 of which were discovered and dismantled before they
exploded in Baghdad. That cost the lives of 46 people and wounded another 120.
In July, there were 20, one of which was destroyed, killing 141 and wounding
410. Finally, in August there was another 23, 12 of which were dismantled,
leaving 135 dead and 407 injured. The two deadliest days were July 12 and August
13. On the former there were four successful bombings with another dismantled
before it could go off. Those killed 43 and left 149 wounded. On the latter day
a truck
bomb detonated in a market in Sadr City with 76 fatalities and 221 injured.
The steady increase in bombings points to the new campaign, but the numbers
alone only tell part of the story.

While IS has proven capable of hitting every part of the
capital, it prefers some sections to others. In June there were four VBIEDs in
the north, two in the east, and one each in the center and south, along with a bombing
in an unidentified district. In July, the south, 7 car bombs, north, 5, and east,
4, were the main targets with another two in the center, and one in the west.
Finally, in August, the south had 7 VBIEDs, 5 in the east, two in the west, one
in the north, and one in an unknown location. Overall, southern, eastern, and
northern Baghdad were the top targets with 15, 11, and 10 bombings in each
respectively.

Car Bombs By In Baghdad June-August 2015

# of Car
Bombs

Dead

Wounded

Jun

15

46

120

Jul

20

141

410

Aug

23

135

407

Location of Car Bombs In Baghdad June-August 2015

Jun

Jul

Aug

Totals

Center

1

2

3

East

2

4

5

11

North

4

5

1

10

South

1

7

7

15

West

1

2

3

N/A

1

1

2

Where the car bombs were planted provides a hint at where
they were manufactured. Southern Baghdad was hit the most pointing towards the
outer towns of the province and Babil as the sources for the VBIEDs. Jurf
al-Sakhr was IS’s main base in Babil, but that was cleared out at the end of
2014. The Islamists however, simply moved north into areas like Mahmudiya
and Latifiya
that they had experience in before. IS might have also taken up in Hor Rajab
and Jisr Diyala, villages in southern Baghdad province that they had used
before. The east was next. Diyala
has traditionally been used to ferry explosives and vehicles into that section
of the capital. That was recently shown in August
when three trucks heading for Baghdad were stopped at a checkpoint containing
100 tons of fertilizer, enough to make 4,000 bombs. There is reportedly a car
bomb base in the Baladrooz area, which is just to the northeast of the capital.
The southern villages of Salahaddin such as Taji and Tarmiya have also been
used by IS to target both northern and eastern Baghdad. IS has also been known
to operate in the rural areas just outside of Sadr City and New Baghdad. The
insurgents have been able to use all of these areas despite a heavy deployment
of Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) units in the capital and its belts. This started
under Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and continued under current Premier Haider
Abadi. The former also called on militias such as Asaib Ahl Al-Haq and Kataib
Hezbollah to patrol Baghdad back in 2014. None of this has been able to break
up IS’s networks.

Car bombs are one of the primary means to assess the Islamic
State’s capabilities. That’s because they involve so much to put together and
deliver. Explosives and cars have to be procured to locations where they can be
built into VBIEDs. Those places needed to be protected as well. Intelligence
needs to be gathered on checkpoints, general security, routes and locations for
the bombings. Then follow up is usually necessary to make an assessment of the
operation. The increasing intensity and spread of VBIEDs across Baghdad shows
that IS has robust capabilities in the center of the country extending out into
several neighboring provinces. The ones used to target the capital are just
some of the ones operating throughout Iraq. There are others at work used to
strike different parts of the country. The government’s forces have not proven
able to disrupt these networks, and until they do these bombings will continue
unabated.

Iraq History Timeline

About Me

Musings On Iraq was started in 2008 to explain the political, economic, security and cultural situation in Iraq via original articles and interviews. I have written for the Jamestown Foundation, Tom Ricks’ Best Defense at Foreign Policy and the Daily Beast, and was responsible for a chapter in the book Volatile Landscape: Iraq And Its Insurgent Movements. My work has been published in Iraq via NRT, AK News, Al-Mada, Sotaliraq, All Iraq News, and Ur News all in Iraq. I was interviewed on BBC Radio 5, Radio Sputnik, CCTV and TRT World News TV, and have appeared in CNN, the Christian Science Monitor, The National, Columbia Journalism Review, Mother Jones, PBS’ Frontline, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Institute for the Study of War, Radio Free Iraq, Rudaw, and others. I have also been cited in Iraq From war To A New Authoritarianism by Toby Dodge, Imagining the Nation Nationalism, Sectarianism and Socio-Political Conflict in Iraq by Harith al-Qarawee, ISIS Inside the Army of Terror by Michael Weiss and Hassan Hassahn, The Rise of the Islamic State by Patrick Cocburn, and others. If you wish to contact me personally my email is: motown67@aol.com